Improvement in bridges



waited gettito @wat dhlljiiw.

Lette/rs Poem: No. 94,272, dated August 31, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN BRIDG-ES.

The Schedule referred to in these Lettes Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom 'it'may concern Be it known that I, CALVIN BAKER, of St. Joseph, in the county of Buchanan, iu the State of Missouri, have invented a Plan for the Cheap Construction 0i' vCommon Road-Bridges, whereby tbe banks of watercourses are made to forni the abutmentjs; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawi ugs, and to the letters of reference marked thereon. l Y

My invention consists in supporting inclined thrusting-beams, which connect above the floor and extend below the tloor, in sockets which rest on bearings di rectly against the -banks ofthe stream, whereby a simple and practical device is produced'.

The main braces are bolted to the floor-beams, and framed above with king aud queen-rods and braces,'iu any of the known forms. By this simple 'Inode of flaming, bridges can be made at reasonable cost, for spans from forty to sixty feet, and as great as onev hundred feet, by additional braces between the junction of the Inain braces and iioor-bcams. The door joists are made to rest upon tbebeams, and the flooring laid lengthwise with the span.

lo enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, lV will proceed to describe its construction.

I frame on the outside of floor-beams b, two main'- l Said main braces a a are extended down into-iron sockets, S, resting ou bearer c c, which bear' evenly on the .natural banks of streams, thereby forming a ready and firm abutment.

Above the beam b, the main braces a a come together, and are framed and secured with socket and' queen-rods and king-rod, in'any of the known forms,

and resting against the vertical or oblique faces of the piers. 'l l therefore do not claim, broadly, the principle of extending the braces below the door-chords or sills, but the following is what l. claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent:-

In combination with thc inclined thrusting-beams a a, connected at a point, f, above the door, and extending below the vfloor, the sockets S S, resting on suitable bearings directlyagaiust the banks of the stream, and employed to receive' and support the lower ends of the beams, substantially as described.

CALVIN BAKER.

Witnesses L. S. Sricns, R.' E. MAXWELL. 

